ATI or NVIDIA

[mooney101]

I need some guidance here cause I'm sick of looking and I want to make a decision. I can't decide on witch platform to go two. I've been Nvidia for some time now but they always seem to get beating sooner or later by ATI. SO i thought lets go ATI. But then the 680i comes out along with the 8800 (wouldn't buy yet but still nvidia is in lead)

So originally I was thinking the the Asus pw5 DH board with my system and a nice ATI card to hold me over until the ATI R600. BUt it doesn't support ATI’s triple-play physics. IS this a concern well I don't think so but what IF it turns out to be AWSOME and then I would have to upgrade to anther baord to get it. So what now, the reviews still point to this being the best buy out there, but is it still with the 680i release?

NOW the 680i is here and its pretty future proof. But again as with the crossfire board. Your kinda hooked in with nvidia or ati is you want to go over one card sit up eventually for SLI or Crossfire.

I just need some guidance, What should i do? I have to order before months end I just can't take it no more.

Thanks
Mooney101

PS any good reasonably price gamer pc makers anyone would recommend?

 

[deathsytheII]

I'm in the same boat you are and am eager to hear what the pros here have to say. I've been lurking almost nonstop for 3 days and new stuff just keeps coming out and changing my final decisions. Just now I noticed newegg is already selling the p5n32-e sli for $299 and they are in stock. I'm trying to convince myself to just buy it now and get it over with, but on the other hand I tend to like all the added bells and whistles of more full-featured boards like wifi, remote, mic array, and generally other unnecessary but neat things.

On the graphics I personally want to lean to nvidia but even that's biting me in the rear because those full-featured boards I like are all crossfire boards like your p5w dh. My 3.4 ghz socket 478 prescott machine just bit the dust and I need a new desktop fast so I wish every new technology would come out right now so I can decide. I know I'm getting e6700 c2d and probably corsair ram. I'm leaning towards a 7950gt for now and sli later, but I cannot figure out which mobo to get for the life of me. The mobo decision could obviously change my graphics choice, but right now I just need guidance.

If my end desire isn't clear I want as much as I can possibly get in features plus as much overclocking potential as possible because it's gonna get water cooling.

 

[mooney101]

Help us all wise ones

 

[3lfk1ng]

imho, i'm going with ATI. I'm eagerly anticipating the release of the rd600 chipset (later this month or early next month) and then I'm buying it. When the r600 is realeased I'm going to buy two of em.

So far It looks like the rd600>680i....but I could be wrong
So far it looks like the r600>g80....but I could be wrong

Also I want everyone to know....that I'm not a fanboy the slightest bit, I just go for the products that I think are the best, and so far I'm very impressed with the ATI corner atm.

 

[mooney101]

Just how much better is the rd600? I mean the Asus pw5 DH has great reviews like allot of other boards is it really worth waiting for?

 

[zahid]

Nvidia cards tend to cost more than ATI.

Performancewise, both are roughly same, in my opinion.

So, go for ATI.

 

[LeonRa]

In the past few years, ATI was a little bit better than nVIDIA, but that doesn't mean it will be so in the future. If the other things on the mobo are important to you, then go with the mobo that have them. My personal choise is ATI( if that is of any importance to you). If you can wait for a while, my guess is that as soon as the new ATI card gets out the prices should also drop a bit.

 

[rwaritsdario]

9 out of 10 of all the Nvidia cards has an ATI competitor that outperforms it for the price. ATIs triple play is looking really awesome cos youll get to recycle your old card.
Even that only one RD600 board will be produced, itll be enginereed by DFI.
Companies like ATI have thruly won my repect in every sense.

 

[sirheck]

http://download.nvidia.com/downloads/nZone/videos/Overclocker_Priceless_360P.wmv

maybe this will help.

curtisy of assman.

 

[sirheck]

seriously though ati/nv and amd/intel trade blows all the time.

competition is good for us=the consumer

 

[rwaritsdario]

God that was a cool video. He missed lapping the CPU, using active cooling on the RAM, LN2'ing the Northbridge, modding the board and trying different chips of course, but it was cool.

He should have waited for RD600 too heh

 

[rwaritsdario]

second unified shaders GPU designed by ATI and GDDR4. Theyve got the 'just fast enough' factor too.

 

[Niamh900]

This is my first post but I've been a lurker for a while

nVidia has a unified shader architecture as well with 128 shader processors, though no GDDR4. Does anyone have REAL specs on the R600? I'm curious since I do a lot of GPGPU type stuff what ATI has to offer that might be better than nVidia. The so called 'specs' I have seen don't suggest a lead for ATI but I give them about as much credit as the 'specs' that were floating around for the nVidia card that suggested a hybrid shader structure and fewer shader processors.

 

[Slobogob]

Speculation? The prophetic readings taken from a fishs guts? Or, and better hope that´s not it, the Inquirer? 8O

 

[rwaritsdario]

Gotta stop posting so fast.
You're right, G80 does have unified shaders. But R600 will be ATIs second attempt at it, Xbox360. Definetly even minor improovements must have been made.

 

[Assman]

http://download.nvidia.com/downloads/nZone/videos/Overclocker_Priceless_360P.wmv

maybe this will help.

curtisy of assman.

:lol: :lol: I see you respect copyrighted posts, RE5PECT 8)

 

[mdalli]

Speaking as someone who has owned both ATI and nVidia cards, I always go with nVidia (now) because ATI's drivers are atrocious. It's the deciding factor between the two.

IMO, they are complicated to download (did I get them all?), complicated to install, easy to screw up if you don't properly wipe the old ones off, etc. No thanks.

 

[Assman]

So far it looks like the r600>g80....but I could be wrong

Based on what?

I agree, it's too early to say who's better, hard evidence is all i trust 8)

 

[sirheck]

i think i spelled curtisey wrong

damn did it again. been doin a little too much

 

[Assman]

Summer nights, i miss 'em too

 

[Grinch123456]

So far it looks like the r600>g80....but I could be wrong

Based on what?
Based on fanboy hope, of course.

 

[Earnie]

Speaking as someone who has owned both ATI and nVidia cards, I always go with nVidia (now) because ATI's drivers are atrocious. It's the deciding factor between the two.

IMO, they are complicated to download (did I get them all?), complicated to install, easy to screw up if you don't properly wipe the old ones off, etc. No thanks.

maybe it's the installer?..never had a bit of troube with ati drivers,easy to download,a breeze to install and never removed old ones before installing new ones,what could be easier?IMO..11 rigs built in 3 years,10 ATI equipped,all 10 still running flawlessly...

 

[mooney101]

Thanks so far everyone. But only a couple of peeps have truly expressed why they prefer one over the other, or why they are steering one way right now? Anyone else?

 

[Earnie]

the truth is ,they are both great for what they are designed to do,It is mostly a matter of personal prefrence,I use and prefer ATI,but would not hesitate to go NVIDIA ,I personally have just never had 1 single issue with ATI.
you can ask which is better and you will always get different answers to your question,one will always come out with one better than the other ,just buy what YOU prefer,Im sure either way you'll be happy!

 

[raven_87]

the NV design is not a truely full "unified" architecture.....just thought I'd throw that one out there.